1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to automatic slide door operating systems for a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to automatic slide door operating systems of a type in which when the slide door under closing movement comes to a so-called "half-latch position", a latch plate of a door lock device is forced to turn to its full-latch position thereby to shift the door to a so-called "full-close latched position".
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, in so-called "one-box" type motor vehicles having slide doors, various types of automatic door operating systems have been proposed and put into practical use for opening and closing the door with the aid of a power device. One of such systems is described U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/526,653 filed on May 22, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,303, in he names of Soushichi KOURA et al.
The system disclosed in the U.S. Patent Application comprises generally a door moving device which is mounted on a vehicle body for moving the slide door in both directions to open and close a door opening defined by the vehicle body, a door closing device which is mounted on the door for enforcedly shifting the door to a full-close latched position when the door is brought to a half-latch position, a latch cancelling device which is mounted on the door for cancelling the latched condition of the door just before starting of the door opening operation of the door moving device, and a control switch which is mounted near a driver's seat or the door opening for controlling the operation of these devices.
That is, when, with the slide door assuming an open position, the control switch is manipulated to complete one circuit, the door moving device moves the door to the half-latch position and then the door closing device shifts the door to the full-close latched position.
When thereafter the control switch is manipulated to complete the other circuit, the latch cancelling device cancels the latched condition of the closed door and thereafter the door moving device moves the unlatched door from the close position to the open position.
The door moving device and the door closing device are equipped with respective electric motors for producing motive power. That is, when the door is moved to the half-latch position by the motor of the door moving device, the motor of the door closing device is operated to shift the door from the half-latch position to the full-close latched position. The times for which these two motors are under operation are somewhat overwrapped for achieving smooth shifting of the door to the full-close latched position.
In the automatic door operating system of the U.S. Patent Application, there is further employed an electric power feeding system for feeding an electric power from an electric power source (viz., battery) mounted on the vehicle body to the electric devices mounted on the door.
The power feeding system comprises an electric connector which includes a first connector part mounted to the vehicle body and a second connector part mounted to the door. The second connector part is brought into engagement with the first connector part when the door under closing movement comes to a so-called "half-latch position" which is near the full-close latched position of the door. The power feeding system further comprises a so-called "feeding start position detecting switch" which is mounted to the vehicle body. The switch completes the electric circuit from the electric power source to the first connector part when the door comes to a so-called "feeding start position" which is near the half-latch position.
When, due to for example presence of a foreign thing accidentally caught between the door and the vehicle body, the door under closing movement is forced to stop at a position between the half-latch position and the full-close latched position, the motor of the door closing device is automatically stopped due to operation of a suitable safety device.
However, under this halfway condition of the door, the latch plate of the door lock device is prevented from effecting return turning due to quiescence of the door closing device, and thus, the door is locked at such halfway position.
This undesirable matter can be solved by energizing the motor to run in the opposite direction for enforcedly returning the latch plate to its rest position. However, in order to achieve this, the system described in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent Application needs a very troublesome switch manipulation work.